On the one hand, as a How I Met Your Mother fan, it's difficult to be worried about this latest development — after all, the spin-off would be at the hands of creators and executive producers Cater Bays and Craig Thomas (with Up All Night executive producer Emily Spivey). But, even though Bays and Thomas developed a television series we all love as much as the gang loves meaningless bets and a free round at MacLaren's, having How I Met Your Mother's creators at the helm could be precisely the problem. As James Poniewozik at Time noted when the news of a spin-off was first announced, How I Met Your Mother was lauded because of its creativity and ability to surprise viewers. Could we possibly be surprised by a series created by the same duo, even if it centers on an entirely different group of friends (especially since their one distinctive feature so far is a love for — you guessed it — MacLaren's Pub)? As Poniewozik writes:

At its best, HIMYM took risks ... It borrowed the time-jumping, expectations-defying non-linear format of adventurous dramas like Lost and applied them to a sitcom format ... A How I Met Your Father spinoff — however much talent is attached, in front of or behind the camera — can never be that. HIMYM upended its audience’s expectations and surprised us; a clone, by definition, would be the opposite of that.

But could How I Met Your Dad be more of a Frasier, which raked in Emmy after Emmy and viewer after viewer after spinning off from Cheers? After all, How I Met Your Mother — and its network, CBS — is hardly hurting in the ratings. And at least a few viewers are expecting How I Met Your Dad to be legen-wait for it-dary.

So perhaps How I Met Your Dad will be met with high praise come pilot season, instead of meeting its maker. And, hey, maybe it will give fathers a much-needed PR boost after Dads.